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Some excerpts from the earlier chapters on the Gita.
    Those who do not have the knowledge that all actions are the result of 
interaction of gunas within us and  the gunas of the objects outside, are 
deluded by egoism and think ?I am the doer.? The wise who have the true insight 
into the respective  spheres  of gunas, the modes of prakrthi, and their 
actions, do not get attached to their actions ?gunaa guneshu varthantha ithi 
mathva na saajjathe.? Though the actions of the enlightened seem to be no 
different than the others it is the attitude that differentiates them.   
   
   How to cultivate the attitude ?gunaaguneshu varthantha??  W hen one gets 
anger he thinks ?I am angry? and does not say that his  anger is the interplay 
of  rajas and thamas  in him towards those outside When one learns to stand 
apart and views his actions as an outsider  he will be aware of the gunas, the 
constituents of his body and mind, moving among those of the sense objects 
outside, producing the various emotions, with which he identifies himself.
   
   Krishna shows the way to do this ?Mayi sarvaani karmaani 
sanyasyadhyaathmachethasaa niraaseernirmamao bhoothva.?  ?Dedicate all your 
actions to Me,? He says ?with your mind fixed on Me, the self of all, thus 
freed from desire and ego, act on in the world. But the man of wisdom , having 
renounced all actions by discriminative intelligence, perceiving action as 
inaction sits in the body as a monarch inside a citadel with nine gates, the 
nine openings of the body through which all experience is gained. The self is 
the  Lord of the castle with which the sage identifies himself and hence he 
does no work nor he causes any work to be done, ?navadhvaare pure dhehii naiva 
kurvannakaarayan.?  Meaning there is no direct nor causative agency as the Self 
is immutable.
   
   The possible doubt that if  the embodied self does nothing or causes nothing 
to be done, who then operates both as a direct and causative agent is answered  
that ?na karmaphalsamyogam  svabhaavasthu pravarthath..?  It is the prakrthi 
constituted of the three gunas   which operates as mentioned earlier ?guna 
guneshu varthanta   Neither the merit nor the sin accrues to the Atman, the 
Self and the notion  of working or enjoying or causing other to do so.
   
  Krishna advises Arjuna to follow the path of bhakthi. He says, ?If you fix 
your mind on Me alone, with all your thoughts absorbed in Me  you will dwell in 
Me . There is no doubt about this.? Whatever one does thinks or sees, there 
should be a persistent thought flow about the Lord like the trickle of oil, 
thailadharavat at the back of the mind. This is ananya bhakthi..How is this 
possible. One has to discharge his duties towards his family and perform the 
work assigned to him in this world by society as a householder
   
  Whatever one does it should be done as an offering to God and the result of 
the action should be renounced. This is possible only for a yathaathmavan, one 
who is endowed with self control. That is,  one who has given up all idea of ?I 
? and ?mine. What Krishna means here is that whatever you do according to your 
position on life, should be done as offering to God, ?sarvam narayanaayethi 
samarpayaami.? The same attitude was stressed in stressed in the chapter of 
Karmayoga but here it is not mere Karmayoga but Karmayoga coupled with bhakthi 
which becomes easier.
  The question that arises in the mind is that whether the renunciation of the 
fruit of action is so easy or so commendable than dhyana, abhayasa and jnana. 
It is definitely not that easy. But it is praised because even an ignorant man, 
provided he has faith and devotion, can be induced to give up the fruit of 
action  as it is ingrained in the human mind that result of action is not 
entirely in his control, that is, there is a many a slip between the cup and 
the lip. So by giving up the fruit of action he places his trust in God and 
slowly gives up his desires  thinking that God knows best what is good for him 
and will give it  unasked. This leads him to think about God more and more and  
realizes that whatever he does  belongs to God. Then he tries to concentrate on 
 God more and more and this practice induces him to acquire knowledge  and 
discrimination. So the renunciation of the fruit of action finally culminates 
in peace
   
  Neither the world has any reason to be agitated by him nor is he agitated by 
the world, yasmaannodhvijathe loko lokaannodhvijathe cha yah. The reason for 
this is his being free from elation, intolerance, fear and agitation. and hence 
he is dear to the Lord
   
  He craves not, anapekshah, is pure, suchih, very adept in his actions at the 
same time not affected, udaaseenah , not worried, gathavyathah and given up all 
desire motivated actions, sarvaarambhaparithyaagi. He is not  elated,  has no 
hatred, not aggrieved and has no desire, yo na hrshyathi na dveshti na sochathi 
na kaankshathi. 
   
  He has given up both good and evil, subhaasubhaparithyaagi, because all his 
actions are done as worship and he has renounced the fruit of action. Since he 
is detached he is the same towards friend and foe,. honour and dishonour, cold 
and warmth sukha and duhka. Therefore he treats .both contempt and praise 
alike. He is silent and contented with whatever that accrues. He has no fixed 
abode. For him vasudhaiva kutumbhakam. and he is sthiramatih, in other words 
sthithaprajnah. ?Such a devotee,? says Krishna,? is dear to Me.? Krishna  
concludes by saying that all those who are endowed with aforementioned 
qualities and have faith  and are engrossed in Him are exceedingly dear to Him 
that is born out of jnana. 
   
  From the chapters 4and12 of the Bhagavatgita.
   
   
  In Visishtadvata the Lord is the inner self of all and the jiva is in 
relation to Him as a body to the soul.So the true agent is Him and not the 
jiva. The actions of jiva cause agencyship to the jiva only when they are 
desire motivated. A devotee acts as an instrument of God in the spirit of 
Kaayena vaachaa mansendhriyairvaa buddhyaatmanaavaa prkrthersvabhaavaat karomi 
yatyat sakalam parasmai naaraayanaayethi samarpayami.Jiva is the sesha, 
dependent  and belongs to the Lord, who is the seshi.and the aadhaara and 
niyanthaa, the support and the controller. Sence of agency to jiva is not an 
illusion but due to wrong identification with body mind and intellect which are 
guided by ragadvesha.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
  

K G Jagannathan <kgjagan21@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
  Dear Members,
   
  The charama sloka, Bh.G 18.66 is cited as a key sloka in Sri Vaishnava 
philosophy. I had a chance to browse simultaneously through the commentaries of 
Sri Ramanuja, Sankara and Abhinavagupta. All three seem to concur that "a sense 
of agency" should be given up while performing the actions.
   
  I have a question, which I have not able to resolve. I hope some learned 
members can throw some light on this.
   
  If the Lord says that we must give up a sense of agency, could it mean that 
the lord is all powerful and that the jIva has no power to act on it's volition 
and that it's sense of agency is actually a false notion?
   
  Related to the above question, how powerful is the jIva compared to the 
brahman? Can the jIva act on it's own volition or is it completely powerless 
and depends on the lord for all it's actions?
   
  Regards,
   
  Jagannathan

                        
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                  May god bless you,
        
                 Dr.  Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.
  










                
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